V

Abstract

Vacancies. Employers’ unsatisfied demands for additional employees. In the UK vacancies for most manual workers and some non-manual workers are notified to the public employment service and are systematically recorded. As a result monthly statistics on the level of vacancies and the vacancy rate are published. In contrast vacancies for professional and senior non-manual employees are most frequently advertised in the national press and professional journals. They are not notified to and recorded by the public employment service since this does not constitute the traditional channel of job search for this class of workers. Published vacancy statistics therefore under-record the level of vacancies outstanding in the economy at any one time although changes in vacancies probably provide a reasonably accurate indication of changes in the demand for extra employees.